Economic instruments, including those under the CAP that provide support to farmers, have a crucial role in maintaining and improving soil health and soil resilience and, to a lesser extent, forest soils. The CAP aims to support soil health through the implementation of conditionality, eco-schemes and rural development measures. Financial support for farmers and foresters that apply practices improving soil health and soil resilience can also be generated by the private sector. For example, voluntary sustainability labels in the food, wood, bio-based and energy industries, established by private stakeholders, can take into account the contributions of farmers and foresters to improve soil health and soil resilience in accordance with this Directive. Such labels could enable food, wood and other biomass producers that follow those practices in their production to reflect them in the value of their products. Additional funding for a network of real-life sites for testing, demonstrating and upscaling of solutions, including on carbon farming, will be provided through the living labs and lighthouses of the EU Mission A Soil Deal for Europe. Without prejudice to the polluter pays principle, support and advice should be provided by Member States to help landowners, land managers and land users affected by actions taken under this Directive, taking into account, in particular, the needs and limited capacities of small and medium-sized enterprises.
Text as published in the Official Journal, reproduced verbatim (including any typographical quirks of the source). For the authentic version, see EUR-Lex.
